IT PAYS to have a brother-in-law in the peloton who will put pedal on metal when you need someone to do the grind.
Just ask Josh Page who yesterday won the Open men's A grade section of the Hawke's Bay Ramblers' Club-hosted annual The Hub Cycling Tour in Hawke's Bay.
Race organiser Ivan Aplin said Page, of Havelock North, won the final stage, the gruelling 95km Valley/Torrens Hill Circuit in Bridge Pa-Raukawa by 50 seconds because he had a stronger "team" helping him out.
"Josh has a brother-in-law [Michael Torckler] who was part of his team," Aplin said, explaining at an amateur level - as opposed to a professional one - riders tended to bank on friends and relatives to work up front to drive them.
No doubt, there's always hangers on.
Unfortunately, Regan Gough, of Waipukurau, found himself nine seconds in arrears when the numbers were crunched after three stages of the tour.
Having won Friday's prologue but not finding out until the next morning, the 17-year-old Central Hawke's Bay College pupil stayed in the hunt in stage 2, the 120km Apley Circuit before the Whakatu Coolstores Criterium in the afternoon was cancelled.
Five-time New Zealand champion Gordon McCauley ended up with "a couple of broken bones" when just 23 seconds into the race he rode into a fence.
Aplin said because he was injured on the course they had to cancel.
Gough said he had lots of mates who helped him out in stages but saw the humorous side of having a brother-in-law.
"I'll try to get a sister through," he said with a laugh but clarifying that his 24-year-old sibling, Kelsi, in Pukekohe, had no intentions of "marrying anytime soon".
"I guess I'll have to wait for probably another 10 years."
For the record, Torckler was third in general classification, 28 sec behind Gough. His sister and avid cyclist, Kerri-anne, is married to Page.
Yellow jersey holder into the final stage, Gough clarified that he could bank on his cycling mates but they were not "100 per cent committed to me" because they had their own riding agenda, such as claiming king of the mountains and sprint titles.
Scott Ambrose was fourth and Luke Mudgway fifth in the GC.